


Scrapbook

by swarkler



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-02 05:18:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2800979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swarkler/pseuds/swarkler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of small yet relevant moments in Laura and Carmilla's relationship, mostly big 'firsts' and important memories.<br/>(Basically just a bunch of fluffy Hollstein drabbles, mostly in chronological order, but I can't make any promises)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Official

Laura’s bed was incredibly narrow, only wide enough for one person – and a very small person at that – due to one of the university’s silly attempts at avoiding potential pregnancies. In truth, the exaggerated measure only made the bed a much better cuddling spot. As the two of them laid lazily on that Sunday afternoon, there was literally no space between them, and frankly, Laura did not wish it were different. Carmilla was in her cat form. Now that the secret was out, she’d been using it a lot more often, which had freaked Laura out at first. She’d felt a little bit like some zoophilic creep, and in all honesty she still did, but Catmilla was warm and cozy and her fur was surprisingly soft to lay on, so she eventually got used to it. As for the rest of the crew…they were still adapting.

“Hey, Laura, do you want to–“ Danny waltzed in unannounced, just like everyone did, and Laura could feel Carmilla’s body stiffening beneath her. Carmilla really hated when their friends did that. “Oh, she’s doing the cat thing again.”

“Yep.”Laura didn’t move a muscle, too lazy to even raise her neck a little bit.

“Can she like, talk?”

Laura thought about it for a second. “God, I hope not.”

“Me too.” Danny sighed in relief, but then turned to the cat. “No offense, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around the vampire thing, I think talking cat would just be too much.”

“So, Danny, what brings you here?”

“Kirsch and I – I mean, the Summer Society and the Zetas, there is no  _Kirsch and I_  – anyway, we’re throwing a celebration party for the survival of everyone and I was wondering if you’d like to come.”

Laura smiled. There was  _d_ e _finitely_ something between Danny and Kirsch. She felt oddly happy for her almost-ex. Danny deserved someone great, and Kirsch was a little misguided, but there was definitely greatness in him deep down. Deep, deep down. “Uhh…Yeah, maybe I’ll swing by.”

On her way out of the door, Danny turned her head around and spoke once more. “You can totally bring your girlfriend, if you want.”

“Oh, she’s not my…we’re not…” Laura could feel herself blushing.

“Ok, whatever you say.”  At last, Danny got out of the room, leaving Laura alone with a very unimpressed-looking cat that quickly transformed to a just as unimpressed vampire.

“Not your girlfriend, huh, cupcake?” Carmilla clutched her chest, pretending to be in pain. “Ouch. May I ask what exactly am I to you, then?”

Laura’s cheeks were burning. “I- I don’t know, it’s just –“

“Booty call? Casual lover? Semi-regular fling? Random hook up? No, wait, wait, I have it:  _fuck-buddy._ Are we fuckbuddies, creampuff?”

“God, you’re making this much worse than it has to be.”

Carmilla smiled to herself. “I know. It’s an acquired skill. I’m very proud of it.”

“Anyway, it’s not that I don’t  _want_ you to be my girlfriend – I do – it’s just that we haven’t really talked about it and you don’t really strike me as the commitment type so I wasn’t sure if you were comfortable with…”

Carmilla rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. “I went to the deep pits of hell to find a soul-consuming sword and nearly got myself killed by using it to attack my own mother…all of that for you, and you’re not sure if I’m comfortable with you calling me your girlfriend?”

“Well, when you put it like that…”Laura struggled to find the words. “It’s just that I’m not really the ‘ca _sual hook up’_ type, you know? To be honest, I haven’t got that much experience in relationships at all, and you…I know what you and your study buddies were up to.”

“You can’t actually believe you’re just another study buddy to me, that’s ridiculous.”

“I know, I know! But I just wasn’t sure of how this works for you, of how long do you have to be with someone before making it, like, an official thing.”

“Hey, Laura?”

“What?”

“Will you be my  _very_  official girlfriend?”

Laura smiled, feeling a strange sense of tingling in her stomach that only Carmilla was able to provoke. “I thought you’d never ask.”


	2. Netflix Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Laura and Carmilla can't agree on what to watch.

“We’re not watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer!”

Carmilla lay lazily on Laura’s bed, tediously picking her nails as Laura sat in front of her laptop looking for something to watch on Netflix.

“Why not?” Laura insisted. “I swear, it’s nothing like Twilight. This stuff is actually good!”

“All vampire crap from the last 30 years is the same. It’s ridiculous.”

Laura raised an eyebrow at Carmilla, smiling. “Broody, angsty vampire falling for some good-hearted human girl. Right. So unrealistic. Can’t imagine that ever happening.”

“Laura Hollis, we’ve already established that _I’m_  the sarcastic one in this relationship. Know your place.”

“And what exactly is my place in this relationship?”

Carmilla smiled, moving in what could only be described as catlike-speed as she reached forward and grabbed Laura from the back, using her vampire strength to easily pull the other girl into bed, positioning her so Laura’s head rested on Carmilla’s chest. “Right here.”

Laura did not object, only getting up for a moment to get her laptop and pull up the covers before falling right back into place.

“Can you _pleaaaase_ give Buffy a chance? I swear it’s a lot better than you think. “

Finally, Carmilla gave in. “Well, if it means so much to you, Cupcake, I’ll give it a try.”

“You’re the best!” Laura lifted her head to smile at Carmilla, then settled back and pressed play. “Now shush, because the first scene is amazing and you won’t want to miss it.”

Forty minutes later, once she was finally allowed to speak, Carmilla offered Laura her full commentary. “Ok, that was actually decent, but there are still some things I’d change. What’s with the ugly bumpy vampire faces? I do  _not_  look like that…Laura?”

Carmilla placed her hand on Laura’s elbow and shook gently, confirming that the other girl was definitely asleep.

 “Couldn’t even make it through the whole pilot, huh? “ She spoke aloud even though no one was listening. Slowly, Carmilla closed the laptop and set it back on the table, being as careful as possible not to wake Laura, and then fell back into bed, settling her head comfortably on the fluffy yellow pillow.

Those moments at night were the only ones in which the two of them actually spent time together silently. The quiet made Laura uncomfortable, she’d always be rambling in some flimsy attempt to fill the silence. Only when she was asleep, the room was truly at peace. Over the last 300 years of partial and sometimes total solitude, Carmilla’d learned to appreciate those quiet moments, especially when they were spent with Laura. The faint sound of the other girl’s heartbeat was something she found oddly comforting.

Carmilla was dwelling in how much she enjoyed that unusual peace when Laura finally started to snore. In the dark, the vampire shook her head slighting.  _Every night._  Since the silence was already ruined, Carmilla wrapped her arms around her girlfriend as tightly as she possibly could without breaking any bones, gathering Laura’s body to her own, and whispered faintly on her ear.

“ _I love you, Creampuff.”_

What had been the last time she’d said those words aloud, Carmilla wondered. Over the last three centuries, she did not remember a single instance in which she’d said those words, at least not after  she’d transformed. She did believe she had loved Elle at some point, but she’d never said it, at least not with those exact words.

_First ‘I love you’ in 300 years and Laura isn’t even listening,_  how anticlimactic. Yet, in truth, Carmilla figured it was perfect. She loved Laura, she was sure of that, sure enough to have this overwhelming urge to say it, but she wasn’t ready for Laura to know about it, at least not yet. Not until she was certain Laura felt it back. So, for the moment, sneaky love confessions in the dark were more than enough. 


	3. A Christmas Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla claims to hate Christmas - and Laura will not accept that.

Laura’s girlfriend was a strange person for various reasons, the most important of which being that she wasn’t technically a _person_ – and she didn’t like to be reminded of that. Carmilla was overly broody, slightly egocentric, annoyingly sarcastic and honestly just plain pretentious sometimes. None of that bothered Laura much, though, she’d learn to appreciate all of her vampire’s little flaws. In fact, there was only one thing, out of the infinite range of odd things about Carmilla, that truly put Laura on edge.

Carmilla Karnstein was a total Grinch.

Feeding off human blood? Okay, that could be dealt with. Being previously involved in what could only be described as murder? Understandable, given the circumstances. Shape shifting into a huge dark feline? Actually kinda cool. Obsessing over Friedrich Nietzsche? _Annoying_ , but acceptable. But hating Christmas? That Laura could not put up with.

How could anybody even hate Christmas? It was simply the most magical time of the year. Whenever holiday season came, Laura’s heart would be filled with such beautiful memories of sitting next to the fireplace with her dad, mindlessly eating gingerbread as they patiently hung up the decorations. She remembered sleeping restlessly, still half-awake staring at the window waiting for the sun to come up so she could rush into the living room and find out what Santa had brought her. Even at the mature age of 19, she could still practically hear the amazing sound of wrapping paper being torn to bits by her tiny eager hands, and the mere thought of it warmed her soul.

She had to keep in mind, of course, that Carmilla was over three centuries old. Her childhood Christmas memories were probably too distant to even be reached, and what would those memories be like anyway? Laura had no idea of how Christmas was celebrated in 17th Century Eastern Europe, but she had a feeling it wasn’t all that great. In truth, most of Carmilla’s Christmases had probably been spent either alone or with that horrid mother of hers, so it was no wonder she’d grown to hate the holiday, but Laura was hoping to change that, which was why she’d decided to spend Christmas in campus.

Her dad had been devastated when she first told him, but he understood it was for a good cause. He and Carmilla hadn’t officially met yet, but he’d listened to Laura rambling about her for so long on the phone he probably felt like he knew her already. Laura felt a pang of guilt for leaving him alone, but she had a mission to accomplish: make Carmilla love Christmas. Or at least, you know, not loathing it would be a start.

With that mission in mind, she’d sneaked out of their dorm room early in the morning and driven to the nearest town to get supplies. Given that it was the 24th, it was no surprise all stores were mostly sold out, but Laura still managed to put together a medium sized box with decorations and even a little token-present.

Taking a deep breath, Laura had to use her elbows to open the door, given that both her hands were occupied with her makeshift Christmas-kit. She was ready to give a huge heartfelt speech she’d half-prepared on the way back to try and convince Carmilla to _at least_ let her put some decorations up when she finally went in through the doorway and saw the room.

The box fell to the floor.

Laura had to resist the urge to go back into the hallway and check the number on the door, for this had to be the wrong room. What used to be their dark, messy dorm had been so well decorated it looked like the scenario for the North Pole in _The Santa Clause._ Lights had been hung, tiny miniatures of Santa and the reindeers had been scattered all around the place, the usual bed sheets had been replaced with green and red versions, even a Christmas tree had been set up in one corner. Perry, LaFontaine, Danny and Kirsch all sat together in that cramped space, looking at her expectantly, but she only acknowledged their presences later. At that point, the only person she could look at was Carmilla, who stood right in front of the doorway wearing an outrageously tacky Christmas jumper, a nervous smile on her lips.

“So…do you like it?” She asked, hesitantly.

Laura could hardly find the words. “You did this?!”

“Well, I had some help from the dimwit squad but…mostly, yeah.”Carmilla ran her fingers through her hair. “Look, you know how I feel about Christmas, but I know it’s important to you, and since this is the first time you’re not spending it with your dad I thought…I thought maybe I shouldn’t ruin it for you.”

“I love it.” Maybe it was Christmas lights, maybe it was the mistletoe carefully positioned right above their heads, maybe it was the eggnog she’d bought at the cafeteria before heading to their dorm, maybe it was too soon, maybe it was not, but Laura couldn’t help herself from blurting out the three words that had been on her mind for so long. “I love _you_.”

In that moment, Laura knew that in the future, no matter how much time had passed and how many other things she’d went through, whenever someone asked her what was the beautiful thing she’d ever seen, she’d describe to them the way Carmilla’s face lit up upon hearing those words.


	4. Good Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> literally just cuddling

They had their cuddling down to a science.

Carmilla was the little spoon. To some it might seem unfitting, considering the roughness of her ways, but between the two of them it always felt natural. Carmilla never acknowledged it aloud, but Laura knew that she still had nightmares about the time she’d spent locked away in a tomb on her own, and she also knew that being held reminded Carmilla that she wasn’t alone anymore.

 As for Laura, she loved to hold. She’d once spent an entire week believing she’d lost her vampire, and she never wished to feel like that. It was silly, without a doubt, but she slept easier whenever her arms were wrapped around Carmilla, knowing she was safe and sound. Perhaps that was a little bit overprotective, but Laura supposed she was like her dad in that way.

They’d both have their left arm hidden beneath the pillow, Laura’s hand always lazily covering Carmilla’s without having much of a grip. Laura’s other arm would be around Carmilla’s waist, pulling the vampire’s body into her own as tightly as she possibly could. Carmilla kept her right arm bent in front of her, close to her stomach, so her hand could meet Laura’s and their fingers could interlock. Under the covers, their feet would be tangled together as well. Sometimes, when she was feeling particularly sweet, Carmilla would slowly run her toes up and down the length of Laura’s calves, and something about that gestured stopped all of the thoughts running around in her head and immediately made her forget about whatever it was she was stressing about that day.

Laura’s favorite part, however, was that one spot on the back of Carmilla’s head, right behind her ear. Every night, before actually going to sleep, Laura would carefully pull her girlfriend’s hair back and plant a kiss on that exact spot. The two of them would be so close she could literally feel the quick chill that ran down the vampire’s spine. Carmilla, in response, would bring their entwined hands up to her lips, and give them a kiss of her own. It was the tiniest of the rituals, but Laura loved it without her heart.  _It was their way of silently saying good night._


End file.
